Architects Appointment Contract Template (B101)

Who can use this Architect Appointment?

An Architect can use this form of Architect Appointment when signing up to provide services to a client.

If you are a client appointing an architect, we suggest you use our Professional Consultant Appointment, B100.

What is this Architect Appointment for?

It is a straightforward appointment letter addressed to the client setting out the terms of the architect’s appointment.  Professional forms of appointment, including those issued by the RIBA and other institutions can be quite complicated and our form is more user-friendly than the more formal standard documents.

What are the main issues for an architect when taking on work for a client?

Scope of services.  It is important for the client to agree – and understand –  the scope of the architect’s work and the fees that are payable as the project develops.  The RIBA publishes a Plan of Work which a lot of architects use.

Change risk.  Clients need to understand the amount of time and effort that even an apparently minor request for a design change  might involve.   So, when a fee is agreed, the architect should make it clear that once designs are agreed, extra fees may be payable if the client later asks for a design change.

Fees. The fees may be fixed or calculated by reference to daily/hourly rates or a mixture of the two. In our form, the client will pay fees monthly.

Liability. An architect responsible for designing a building and then monitoring the construction can face a potentially large claim if something goes wrong or there is a mistake in the design. Therefore, an architect needs to have professional indemnity insurance which protects both the architect and the client. In addition, it  is sensible for an architect to have a specific limit on liability in their terms of business which is linked to the insurance policy.

Copyright in the designs will usually be retained by the architect and the client will have a licence to use those designs.

What detailed terms does the architect appointment contain?

There is a short letter to be signed by the architect and accepted and countersigned by the client; a set of Terms & Conditions which come with a small-print one page version; and schedules which contain details of the services and the fees.    The T&Cs cover:

For more information, see our Explanatory Notes  which you will  receive when you download the document from our website.

For information on signing documents see our Contract Signing page

When I download the document, can I change it and/or use it more than once?

Yes, all ContractStore’s templates are in MS Word and you can use the contract on more than one project. For more information, watch the video on this page of our website or see our FAQs

Legal support

ContractStore supplies templates and is not a law firm.  But all our templates are written by experienced lawyers. This appointment is written by a specialist construction solicitor.  So, we can arrange legal assistance for customers who need special terms in one of our documents or a bespoke template.  For more information see our Legal Services page.

And if you want to contact us see our Contacts page.